Gabrieli was the only Democratic primary candidate who did not return the group’s questionaire by Monday’s deadline, despite many reminder calls, even up to and including today, said Executive Director Giovanna Negretti.
Gabrieli’s campaign said it has received the questionaire and is still looking at it. But it’s too late. The group will hand out the first endorsement of its five-year existence tomorrow, giving the nod to Deval Patrick, for “his commitment to making his government reflective of the entire community of Massachusetts,” said Negretti. “He is good on all of the issues that are important to us.”
Gabrieli, on the other hand, has angered ¿Oíste? and other immigrant groups with his increasingly strong stance against providing in-state tuition rates to the children of undocumented immigrants. In automated calls made this week, a woman’s voice points out that Patrick and Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly, the third Democratic primary candidiate, would give in-state tuition to illegal immigrants, and that Deval Patrick would give them drivers’ licenses. Gabrieli, the speaker says, won’t use voters’ tax dollars that way.
“He is using [the in-state tuition issue] in a strategic way to attract conservative or moderate voters, and he’s using us as scapegoat to attract that type of electorate,” said Negretti. “And that just speaks to his integrity…We can’t dispute his record on education and after school programs, but it really puts a big question mark in terms of his seriousness about a community that is growing, the Latino community…and the fact that he did not turn in a questionaire from the only Latino statewide organization, it just confirms that this is not a community that is important to him, and that’s very disappointing.”
Gabrieli is looking down the barrel of yet another expensive loss. Desperation makes people do crazy things, like blow off a growing potential constituency (and throwing them under the bus). He may think that’s a smart move, but like I said, desperation makes you do really stupid things.
What’s Gabrieli’s stand on scholarships for LEGAL immigrants?